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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

One of the biggest challenges was taking the enormous amount of stats and special rules for Epic and convert them over to Field of Battle: Sci-Fi.

The first thing was converting movement. Here is how I adjusted the Epic stats to fit into FOB. Remember I'm only converting Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Eldar, and Tyranids for my gaming pleasure. Those with Squats, Orks, and Chaos Marines can use my guidelines below.

Two Ultramarine Land Raider Companies (each stand is a company in FOB)

This is not an exact science and I allowed some leaway in adjusting movement. The best part about writing rules for only your group to play with is that you don't have to account for every detail. It is quite liberating!

Converting Weapon Ranges
FoB has one weapon range for all units, well that wasn't going to work for all the nasty stuff in Epic, so I changed the following.

Epic Range = FoB Range
<= 15cm = 4”

<= 30cm = 8”
<= 45cm = 12”
<= 75m = 16”

<= 100cm = 24”
> 100cm = 36”

In addition, to keep things simple, I used the following range calibrations to adjust fire quality:
(click for larger image)

So, if your weapon had a range or 24", then short range would be 6" or less, normal would be 6" -12", while Long would be 12" - 24". Simple.

Lastly each vehicle weapon was assigned a Weapon Level (WL). This tells you which row on the rating table to roll on when creating the Combat value of the unit.

Converting Armor
First, there was the issue with infantry in armor, like space marines. I gave them a special value of Heavy Body Armor, which is a bonus against other infantry fire, but not against artillery and large caliber weapons.

Next was dealing with vehicle armor:
Armor Save = FOB Armor type

4,5,6 = Light
3 = Medium
2 = Heavy
1 = Extra Heavy

I dropped Extra Light armor as it really wasn't something fits into the game as I envision it. That may change.Ultramarine Infantry companies (each stand is a company) & Rhino APCs

Next, some special changes to match up with how FOB handles better quality units:

SCA = Superior Close Assault (3+), More than 6 I have to figure out something better

Here is a small sample of the ratings for Space Marines (click for larger image)

Note that I haven't actually played with these conversions, so I may have to make tons of adjustments, but I feel pretty confident with what I have done so far. Tyranids will be a challenge, along with Titans, but I will figure them out.

About the Dictator

Benevolent Dictator of the Charlotte Garrison wargaming club and chieftan of the Burgess Clan.
EMAIL: EBurgess@Carolina.rr.com
Wargaming with miniatures (and rules) since about 1989. Playing with toy soldiers since 1970.
Miniature Wargame Rules Written by me: Guns of Liberty (AWI), Barrage (Piquet), Archon 2nd edition (Piquet), Din of Battle 2nd edition (Piquet), and Death in the Desert (FFL)